2010 Thoughts, Pt. I

Thank goodness I'm a football fan or I'd be bored during the off-season. Come February, I'm in a sporting funk. NBA basketball doesn't do it for me, and I quit watching NASCAR after they threw Bill Simpson under the bus following Earnhardt's death. I never felt any need to return to a series that has less flavor and is tougher to digest than a piece of microwaved butt steak. I laughed when NASCAR's bogus "Chase for the championship" registered a colossal FAIL this year for the same reason it was created in the first place - the fact that the other teams can't compete with one driver.

(insert sound of grinding gears here)

While I am born and bred to bleed Husker Red, I'm not as big a college football fan. My interests in college football extend to how it affects Nebraska. Outside of that, it's good for when nothing else is on and the worst college football beats the best of baseball any time. My football interest actually lies with the NFL. I'm a fool for the NFL (though I'm not a fantasy football guy) I read the wires daily; "Every day is like Sunday" and while I'm sure Morrissey had no visions of the pigskin when he penned the song, he seemed to have no problem cashing the check for the NFL Network commercial.

Speaking of money, don't give me any bullsh*t about college football being for the "love of the game." It's about money. Just stand next to Tom's palace at the terminus of Vine Street in Lincoln and tell me it isn't about money. When you see college teams with better facilities than the pros (save for Jerry's World in Dallas), you're damn right it's about money.

Update: the WAC hired a PR firm to make the case for a Boise State BCS trip. I'm sure it was all about school pride...

But I have no beef with that. Just admit what it is. So, it doesn't mean I'm not a Husker fan, it's just I don't buy the NCAA's "amateur" whitewash. At least the NFL admits its cash DNA. You want love-of-the game football? Then go watch a Div III or NAIA game.

But this isn't a rant about college athletics, or the merit of one sport over another. But let me draw some parallels.

Money. Racing wouldn't exist without it.

And, money is the reason the promoters are in the business of even putting these events on.

I'm not the only one to decry back gate promoting. Back gate promoting gave birth to the "support class." And it gave birth to more classes. Pretty soon, a track owner found out it was easier to just add more classes to the program than try to get an increasingly picky audience to come in to the grandstand. Sanctioning bodies found that if their own rules failed to control costs to where there wasn't growth in a class, just add another class, with just a little more restriction. You've created infinite growth, right? Something for everyone!

And hey, it's a hell of a lot easier to just add another class than to take the grief of drivers and owners bitching, much less having to actually drum up fan support, right?

Enough already. I'm not that old, but I'm old enough to remember two classes of stock car: the late model - looking more like today's Pro-Am and the "Street Stock" - like the hobby stocks of today. I'm all for creating classes out of necessity: the 360's and 410 sprints are a good example. The costs between the two were just TOO far apart. I'd argue the same about "Super" and "Limited" or "Grand National" late models. Same reason.

But the one that gets me is the SportMod. The IMCA SportMod, and you know they'll never admit it, is the IMCA's answer to its failure to control costs with the original plan for the IMCA Modified's creation in the 1970's.

Let's go back to the original plan. Wasn't the paltry out of pocket expense of a motor claim supposed to keep other teams from building up motors? Weren't the draconian limits on tires/chassis/suspension supposed to keep those motors from hooking up to the track, if the claim failed, or wasn't enforced due to fears of retribution?  Problem is, that's precisely what happened. 

It didn't work, and IMCA recognized that they might as well make the class more of a race car than a car that raced (to explain the difference, look up the Sport Compact rules) and opened up the rulebook to make the class more like "late model lite" than the original design. Personally, I LIKE the 'new' modified - far from the original creations that took to Eagle in 1985 that often resembled dogs scurrying on linoleum more than racing.

However, now came the inevitable escalation in costs. The SportMod is an attempt to get the cost containment plan right. Instead of a claim, racers can opt to install a claim-free crate motor instead. Other rules keep things in check. It's a good idea.

But...

My first experience with SportMods was as a support class at I-80. I have to confess, I found them, well, tedious. The sound of a pegging rev-limiter just doesn't do it for me. Worse than restrictor plate racing. But that was the big track. Seeing them this year on the 1/3 miles of Butler County and Eagle changed my opinion. Especially the Eagle go-round where a full field of 30+ took the track. These guys moved, throwing it into the corners, sliding out, just like the big brothers that followed them later.

"Which ones are these?" came the question from one of the Eagle officials after the SportMods finished their warmups and the "A" Mods came to the track. The answer back was that one could tell the difference because the SportMods had a spoiler.

The spoiler. That's the difference. SportMod drivers should take that as a compliment. Now, obviously there's a lot more, and the seasoned fan/observer will be able to tell the difference. But the casual fan? It's just more modifieds. That could be good or bad, depending on your preferences.

I've said before, I don't like similar classes running on the same card. I'll summarize:
- it dilutes the field, taking from the "A" group
- one could get into an "A" level modified, for the costs of buying a sport mod (I DIDN'T say you could buy Dylan Smith's or Jordan Grabouski's Modified, I said you could buy a legal A-mod)
- disincentive to move up into the classes, that, in the end are what draws fans that are more than friends and family of drivers. I have yet to see a flow upward to the A mod ranks.
- fan confusion: those few casual fans can't / don't care about the differences as they're too subtle on the outside. Even diehards don't care.

It seems, that Eagle will be running SportMods in 2010 as part of its Saturday night show. I'm not keen on that for the reasons I've listed above, especially as I feel it may dilute what is arguably the most competitive Modified show in the country.

RUMOR has it, from a credible source, that IMCA offered Eagle a monetary incentive to run the "fastest growing class." Even without incentive, 20-25 sport mods at $20/crew person are a quick way to make money...a lot more than the $20 per sprint car crew with a lot more purse payout.

Eagle, which makes concerted effort to speed the program along, has enough time trying to make the 10:30 end time goal as is. The Sprint drivers and fans (and I) have complained that starting first and ending last leaves too much time in the middle. This won't help. So...what's the reasoning here if there's no incentive or if it isn't about money?

Or...is some other change is coming? Maybe I'll figure out why I started talking about the NFL later.