NASCAR writers agree: Season off to great start

During NASCAR’s preseason media tour, Larry McReynolds lectured the NASCAR media on being more positive.

“I know it’s easy to write about all the bad things and I know it can't all be about the good things,” McReynolds said (quoted by SB Nation’s Jeff Gluck). “But (here's) the only thing I reach out to you: If it's television ratings (you're writing about), we know the ratings are down, how about also promoting that we're second only to the NFL? If there's 25,000 empty seats at Michigan, how about making sure you document there's still over 100,000 people in those grandstands? Things like that will get our sport back to where we were.”

For those in attendance, it has been tough not to be happy about the first two weeks of the NASCAR season. Gluck wrote earlier today that Trevor Bayne’s Daytona 500 win was good for the old fans and the new fans. Gordon’s win in Phoenix was pretty good too.

“Fans are liking what they’re seeing,” Gluck wrote. “After Gordon's win, people of all ages lined up along the catch fence from Turn 1 all the way down the frontstretch to salute Gordon – which was something he couldn't remember ever happening before. That was new for a guy who only used to get booed in the old days.”

In fact, yesterday I posted that Gordon’s win—which prevented Kyle Busch from sweeping the weekend—was good because Busch has become the lightning rod that Gordon once was.

Jenna Fryer, of the Associated Press, opined that Gordon and Bayne have done wonders for the sport in the first two weeks of the season.

“Now NASCAR has Gordon, a 20-year veteran and four-time champion, back in Victory Lane after a drought that stretched almost two years, an outcome that sits well with the sport’s aging fan base. The fresh-faced Bayne, meanwhile, attracted the coveted 18-to-34-year-old audience,” she wrote.

“Either way, it’s got the series headed in the right direction after several sagging seasons.”

She also wrote that it’s still up to the fans to tune in for the next 34 weeks. But, she, like a lot of others (yours truly included) feel that the beginning of the season has provided a lot of interesting stories and will keep NASCAR in the limelight for a few more weeks.

“It’s up to the fans to decide if the first two weeks are enough to keep them interested for 34 more races. And while there are still issues to be ironed out…NASCAR finally appears to be doing something right,” she wrote.

And it’s enough to attract older viewers and younger viewers. Trevor Bayne was celebrated in his hometown of Knoxville, Tenn., on Monday. One fan, thirty years older than Bayne, is excited for the youngster.

“He inspires a lot of kids with his faith,” said Knoxville resident Mike Lewis, 50 (quoted in an AP story on Bayne). “I enjoy watching him talk, because I know it’s coming from the heart. Despite his success, he’s very humble right now.”

And that is just one reason why NASCAR is doing so well right now.

Now, if only driver 88 could find his way to Victory Lane.
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Information and quotes for this story came from Jenna Fryer, Jeff Gluck and an AP report from Tennessee.

For Gluck’s entire article, click here: http://www.sbnation.com/nascar/2011/2/28/2021141/nascar-phoenix-2011-results-jeff-gordon-kyle-busch-trevor-bayne
For Fryer’s opinion piece, check here: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news;_ylt=AskvJbNqCe6iaJBnYrZBk.Xov7YF?slug=ap-nascar-inthepits
For the story on Bayne, click here: http://sports.yahoo.com/nascar/news;_ylt=AqeOQ3BER9VyfL9deti3Uynov7YF?slug=ap-nascar-bayneshometown