Posted on 02/19/2016 6:52:07 AM PST by ican'tbelieveit
Ha. Corn dogs were a staple when my son was much younger but that’s been about 25 years ago. Now I might grab one at a carnival every so often.
Mike Wallace testifies in assault trial UPDATE: Former NASCAR driver Mike Wallace still suffers from black floaters in his right eye and still has problems with depth perception from injuries suffered in an alleged assault June 17 following a Rascal Flatts concert. Wallace testified about his injuries Tuesday during the first day of trial for three men charged with misdemeanors assaulting him, his daughter and son-in-law. The men — Paul Lucas, 29, Nathan Lucas, 24, and Randolph Mangum, 23 — pleaded not guilty during the arraignment prior to the start of the trial. The 57-year-old Wallace also suffered a broken tooth that he still needs to have replaced as well as lacerations in his mouth. His daughter in law Lindsey Wallace Van Wingerden suffered a broken wrist and black eye. Under cross examination, the focus was on Wallace’s actions that night. He said he had four drinks - two at dinner and two during the concert. He said he wasn’t inebriated. He had taken anti-anxiety medication earlier in the day, medication that his prescription indicated he was not supposed to mix with alcohol. In other testimony, the arresting police officer indicated that he was told the men charged in the fight acted in self-defense. The police investigation report includes three additional victims, including people with the last name Lucas and Mangum. The trial will continue Wednesday morning.(ESPN.com)(10-26-2016)
UPDATE: A mistrial was declared in the trial of three men charged in a alleged assault of former NASCAR driver Mike Wallace, his daughter and son-in-law. Two potential witnesses were in the courtroom for part of the first day of trial Tuesday — violating the sequestration order in the case — and North Carolina District Court Judge Ronald Chapman determined their testimony could be influenced by what they saw. No new trial date was set.(10-26-2016)
NASCAR will limit Cup drivers in lower series: In an announcement that will put an even brighter spotlight on the next generation of stars and bolster the identity of all three of its national series, NASCAR announced on Wednesday driver participation guidelines for the 2017 season. The new guidelines limit the number of events a premier series driver can race in the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. Starting next season, premier series drivers with more than five years of full-time experience will be eligible to compete in a maximum of 10 races in the XFINITY Series and seven races in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series.
Additionally, drivers with more than five years of full-time premier series experience will be ineligible to compete in the final eight races in each series, as well as the Dash 4 Cash races in the NASCAR XFINITY Series. The final eight races are comprised of the regular season finale and the entirety of the Chase in each series. Drivers earning premier series points in 2017 also are not eligible to compete in the 2017 NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series Championship Races at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
“The updated guidelines will elevate the stature of our future stars, while also providing them the opportunity to compete against the best in professional motorsports,” said Jim Cassidy, NASCAR senior vice president of racing operations. “These updated guidelines are the result of a collaborative effort involving the entire industry, and will ultimately better showcase the emerging stars of NASCAR.”
Drivers with more than five years of full-time experience in the premier series still can run for an XFINITY Series or Camping World Truck Series championship, provided they have declared for championship points in the respective series.
Wednesday’s announcement signals the next step in NASCAR’s driver participation guideline evolution. Prior to the 2016 season, NASCAR announced that members of the 2015 Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup field would be ineligible to compete in the 2016 Championship Race in both the NASCAR XFINITY Series and NASCAR Camping World Truck Series. In 2011, NASCAR implemented a rule requiring drivers to select one of the three national series in which to collect championship points.(NASCAR)(10-26-2017)
Texas offering VIP experience to Antarctica resident Texas Motor Speedway has become an international destination over the past five years with NASCAR and Verizon IndyCar Series race fans visiting the world-renowned motorsports venue from 41 countries and territories. They have arrived from literally all ends of the earth, with six of the world’s seven continents represented including North America, South America, Asia, Australia, Africa and Europe. Not surprising, the lone one missing is Antarctica, the southernmost continent and site of the South Pole that is a virtually uninhabited, ice-covered landmass. But that isn’t going to deter Texas Motor Speedway for striving for perfection by having a fan representing every continent attend a race in this five-year span during its 20th anniversary season of racing. It may appear to be an implausible idea to identify a race fan from Antarctica, but let’s not forget that the National Science Foundation’s United States Antarctic Program (USAP) is stationed there and those employees return to their U.S. homes after their tenures. There also have been military deployments over the years. Texas Motor Speedway is searching for any individual that can prove they were a temporary resident of Antarctica and their reward will be a free VIP package to the AAA Texas 500 NASCAR tripleheader weekend Nov. 4-6. The speedway will provide that individual along with a guest a pair of suite tickets for the race weekend, pre-race passes to the concert by country artist Jake Owen, access to the Sprint Cup drivers’ meeting and garage passes along with a Texas Motor Speedway “No Limits” merchandise package.(TMS)(10-26-2016)
Thanks! Sounds like it’s over.
and the assailants weren’t drinking at all... right? feh
Thanks for the updates…
More like it’s not what you know but who...
Then I’ll bet “somebody + a few” will be getting free lawncare and landscapeing.
Wonder how many times this judge has had these punks before his bench?
Civil suit.
For what ?
Sorry I mixed up threads.
I follow You now.
< whistle on x 3> Here coffee pot! Here coffee pot! Come on, Good Boy< \ whistle off >
Better now
Sunday, 6:30PM NBCS (DirecTV Ch. 220)
NASCAR the Season (2001)
A Special Presentation
Thanks.
You are welcome
1 of 2
Fans in turn 4 early in the 37th Annual Bank of America 500 NASCAR Sprint Cup Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Oct. 9, 2016. Davie Hinshaw dhinshaw@charlotteobserver.com
By Katherine Peralta
kperalta@charlotteobserver.com
Earlier this month, Paul and Lois McCarty packed up their truck and drove 10 hours down from Columbus, Ohio, for the Bank of America 500 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway – something they’ve been doing for the last 10 years. Both 66, the duo has been following NASCAR for most of their adult lives, though Paul points to the 1970s as the height of his fan experience.
One reason? There are fewer fans in the stands these days, says Paul, a retiree.
As the racing season enters its final weeks, NASCAR and the track owners are acknowledging the slump in attendance and citing factors like the economy and weather – and they’re working to find ways to draw fans back in.
Paul McCarty says the attendance drop could be because hotels near the speedway have gotten more expensive, which is why he and Lois opt to stay at campgrounds nearby for just over $300 a weekend. It could be because of the economy. It could be because the sport and its rules have changed – NASCAR’s gotten away, Paul says, from “good ol’ boy racing.”
It was more exciting, for example, when NASCAR wasn’t as tough on drivers for fighting, Paul says. He recalls the dramatic ending of the Daytona 500 in 1979, when Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison crashed in the final lap and then got out of their cars and sparred after the race.
“Now everything’s gotta be politically correct, and that ain’t no place for NASCAR,” he says. “NASCAR is give it hell, go wild and crazy. That’s the way it started, and that’s the way it ought to stay.”
Whatever the reason, revenue from admissions has undoubtedly fallen precipitously over the last half decade at racetracks nationwide.
The middle class
Speedway Motorsports, based in Concord, International Speedway Corporation and Dover Motorsports are three publicly traded companies that own and manage racing facilities that host NASCAR races.
At SMI, which owns nine tracks including the one in Charlotte, revenue from admissions fell 28 percent from 2010-2015. At ISC, which owns 13 facilities, admissions revenue fell 19 percent over that time. At Dover, which owns four tracks, admissions revenue fell 51 percent.
The companies cite a host of factors, including weather and competition from other sports, for the decline. But the struggling “middle class,” also a talking point in the current election cycle, has also started popping up in SMI’s and ISC’s securities filings as a reason.
SMI’s 2015 annual report, filed March 18, is the first time the company cited the “absence of a stronger middle class recovery” as one of its challenges. It has mentioned that phrase in each of its most recent quarterly reports, filed April 28 and July 28, and could do so again when it reports earnings next week.
ISC first said the “lack of a broad based middle class economic recovery” could affect attendance levels in its 2014 annual report. Like SMI, it has used the phrase in all of its subsequent quarterly reports.
NASCAR says the median income of its fans is $70,000 a household, (slightly more than the Census Bureau’s definition of middle class, about $56,000 a household.) Janet Kirkley, SMI’s director of investor relations, said the company decided to start mentioning the middle class because of what it was noticing among its core demographics of fans.
That may sound at odds with national data: At 5 percent, the U.S. jobless rate is back to pre-recession levels, and the economy has more than recovered jobs lost during the downturn. Average hourly earnings are finally starting to pick up.
But if a NASCAR fan lost his or her job, or if finances are stretched thin for whatever reason, he or she is less likely to buy race tickets and carve out a weekend or longer for a race, especially when TV coverage and digital engagement with racing have been improving, experts say.
That’s the case with one longtime fan from West Virginia who’d driven down for the Bank of America 500. The man said he used to aim for eight races a year, though “because of the economy,” he’s only able to swing one a year these days.
Marc Ganis is the co-founder of Chicago-based sports consulting firm Sportscorp, Ltd.. He says there’s credence to NASCAR’s concern with its “bread and butter fan base.”
“For the middle class, if it were not for the drop in prices of oil and gas, we might see even more of a pronounced decline in attendance at NASCAR,” Ganis says.
NASCAR Chief Marketing Officer Jill Gregory says NASCAR released its 2017 schedule four months ahead of time – earlier than ever – in order allow time to plan for fans, who often take days off work to attend a race.
To help offset some of the attendance declines, companies like SMI are staring to host non-NASCAR events at their tracks, like the Battle at Bristol. The Tennessee track was transformed into the world’s largest football stadium for the Sept. 10 college game between Tennessee and Virginia Tech.
A fall in race attendance isn’t the only hit the sport has taken.
Attendance at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte has declined steadily for every year since it opened in 2010. In its first year, from May 2010 to April 2011, the uptown attraction drew in 278,046 visitors. For the year that ended in June 2015, it fell to 166,559, according to the Charlotte Regional Visitors Authority, which operates the NASCAR-licensed hall.
TV ratings of NASCAR races have also slumped. Excluding rainouts, the NASCAR Sprint Cup race from Dover in early October marked the ninth of the past 10 NASCAR races to hit multi-year lows in ratings and viewership, according to Sports Media Watch. The Oct. 2 Dover race had 2.6 million viewers on NBCSN, down from 3.2 million last year.
But NASCAR isn’t the only sport that’s taken a hit in terms of viewership. TV viewership of NFL games has also been down this year, something the league attributes to the presidential campaign and shifting habits away from traditional cable.
The celebrity effect
Experts say that the attachment to certain drivers affects fans’ interest in NASCAR. ISC reported a slight uptick in its attendance revenue last year, which Jeff Gordon said would be his last before retirement.
“Stars and celebrities drive interest and attendance,” Ganis said.
Ron Hill of Lancaster, Ohio, for example, was a longtime Dale Earnhardt Sr. fan until the driver died in 2001 after crashing at the Daytona 500. Hill could never bring himself to attend a race – he’d instead watch it on TV. “It was hard for me; I was a big fan of him.”
Hill says he’s become a fan of Earnhardt’s son, Dale Jr., and the most recent Bank of America 500 was his first in-person race.
But Earnhardt announced in September he’d miss the rest of the NASCAR season because of a concussion. Sports Media Watch said the driver’s absence may be contributing to the “especially steep downturn of late” in TV ratings and viewership.
NASCAR has realized that it needs to take a more active role in helping create the “stars of tomorrow,” something that used to happen organically, Gregory said. That means, through development programs like NASCAR Next and Drive for Diversity, identifying young drivers and helping prep them off the track through offerings like media training and photo shoots.
“If the fans and the media and the sponsors knew who these drivers were before they burst onto the scenes, then they would have more linkage and passion for those drivers,” Gregory said.
Kevin Harvick recounts his NASCAR victory at Kansas Speedway
Sprint Cup Series driver Kevin Harvick described his victory in Sunday's Hollywood Casino 400 at Kansas Speedway. Jill Toyoshiba The Kansas City Star
Attention spans
Matthew Brooks, an analyst at Macquarie Securities, doesn’t believe sluggish middle class growth is the primary reason for declining NASCAR attendance in recent years. He points instead to the industry’s “structural challenges,” meaning much of the interest in the sport lies with baby boomers, who are aging and making trips to the speedway less frequently.
A local effort to garner interest among younger fans is the Bojangles’ Summer Shootout series, a night of racing for kids as young as 8, put on by SMI subsidiary U.S. Legend Cars International.
“Capturing the next generation of race fans ... is SMI’s and NASCAR’s primary marketing focus,” SMI’s executive chairman Bruton Smith, a recent NASCAR Hall of Fame inductee, has said.
Ganis, the Chicago consultant, notes that Americans’ attachment to their smart phones has deteriorated attention spans. That’s problematic for any sporting event that lasts for hours – not just NASCAR. That’s why, Ganis notes, other professional stadiums have invested heavily in experiences, like the WiFi upgrades at Bank of America Stadium.
To that end, NASCAR has built up its consumer analytics and insights group uptown to study and “talk to” fans in real time. The digital teams monitor social media conversations about NASCAR and communicate trends with the track owners, Gregory said.
NASCAR’s also started leaning on Facebook Live for announcements, and launching Snapchat stories that let fans capture their race experience.
SMI Chief Executive Officer Marcus Smith notes how capacity at other sports venues has similarly fallen over the last two decades. The emphasis has turned, Smith told the Observer in a recent interview, to building stadiums more for their experience, rather than just for the sport itself.
At Charlotte’s BB&T Ballpark, for example, instead of remaining in their ticketed seats, people are often standing and socializing, grazing through the various local food vendors and craft beer stands.
The same sentiment is true at NASCAR races, Smith said. People are there to enjoy themselves as well as to watch the race. That was one reason for adding the a carnival-like “fan zone” with food and beer stands and games outside the Charlotte track.
“With stadiums that aren’t as modern and that don’t have as much public funding as other professional sports, it’s taken more time to get that kind of infrastructure that’s more modern,” Smith said.
Jobs of NASCAR: Meet Spanky, the chef who cooks 150 pounds of bacon per weekend to feed his team
Jason Eidson, who goes by Spanky after the Little Rascals character who he describes as "the little short fat guy with fat cheeks," is a chef. Instead of wearing a white chef's coat and working in a kitchen at a restaurant, however, he sports a blue NASCAR hat.
Justine Miller jmiller@mcclatchy.com The Charlotte Observer
Katherine Peralta: 704-358-5079, @katieperalta
Link to above page for video about “Spanky”
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article109205537.html;
Also We are in the Turn 4 pic. 2nd time Mama has been in the paper, Me too but I try not to count the 1st one as it was in the Police Blotter;)
And link to Todays spew.
http://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article111375002.html
Sorry about lack of formatting on 2nd one, My eyes are hurting bad.
Be back later.
I have noticed the decline in attendance too. Their “eco” push certainly turns some fans off.
gotta tell ya, after Dale died, i pretty much stopped watching for a looong time
then it was only the big tracks and bullrings and has pretty much stayed that way
i’ve rooted for Jr and Smoke but now i’m down to Jr, and when he goes, well, i’m done.
i haven’t even gone to the Glen since then either even though i usually can get tickets
i think as the Old Guard dies off/retires the older fans will die off/retire with them
it’s just not the same...
P.S. is the Turn 4 pic in the link??? i dint see it
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