Return to basics won't solve sport's popularity woes

Bringing in pop stars like Kelly Clarkson to boost NASCAR's "cool" factor didn't endear the sport to its grassroots fan base. Chris McGrath/Getty Images

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- NASCAR's sanctioning body finds itself in a rather perplexing situation as the season approaches, just two weeks after chairman Brian France emphasized going "back to the basics" in his state of the sport address.

After years of seemingly perpetual change in stock car racing, the grassroots fans have turned apathetic to the sport they once loved. Television ratings are down and ticket sales have taken a significant dip at many tracks.

So, to remedy the situation, NASCAR looks to channel its colorful past rather than its corporate present.

There are some who even think the sport should re-embrace country music, a familiar NASCAR soundtrack for nearly 50 years until getting pushed aside in favor of rock music over the last decade.

"Going back to the core race fans, maybe we need a little more George Strait or Alan Jackson out there," said team owner Richard Childress, a devout country music fan who hails from the rolling hills of Davidson County, N.C. "Maybe that would help us."

Bringing in acts like Third Eye Blind and Kelly Clarkson in an effort to increase the sport's "cool" factor left a sour tune in the ears of NASCAR's most loyal followers.

Just one day after France's proclamation, Daytona International Speedway announced the pre-race show for this year's 50th Daytona 500 would be Brooks & Dunn.

Please allow a little chuckle here. Because if NASCAR thinks it can solve its popularity problems by reverting back to the "good old days" with country music, what's the reaction when all the Generation X fans head to the exits?

NASCAR takes great delight in the fact that the 18-to-35 age group has become its strongest demographic of fans while the 55-year-olds are on the decline in terms of attendance and television viewership. But the 18-to-35 demographic may be the most fickle in society, more influenced by passing trends than a deep and sustained love of anything.

Start playing country music again and these fans may scream, "See, this is a red-neck sport. It's not cool. I'm outta here."

Nobody is passing judgment on what type of music is considered cool because, after all, Faith Hill would be considered fashionable regardless of genre. But turn on the Winter X Games or Pro Beach Volleyball or anything involving Red Bull and country music doesn't appear on the playlist. No Trace Adkins, no Toby Keith.

NASCAR's problems run deeper than the pre-race soundtrack. Maybe a better solution would be lowering ticket prices and getting the drivers to be fan-friendly again. The current crop of drivers seems to enjoy pushing fans out of the way without stopping to sign an autograph.

The biggest misconception in sports is the catchphrase: NASCAR has the most accessible athletes in the world. That used to be true when Richard Petty, Bobby Allison and Cale Yarborough were bigger-than-life heroes in the South.

In the 1980s, Bill Elliott was one of the heroes of the hard-core NASCAR fan. Now, 22 years since his first Daytona 500 win and 20 years since he won a second time, Elliott is still behind the wheel of a race car, racing in the shadows of drivers named Kyle Busch and Kasey Kahne -- both tremendous drivers but representatives of a far different fan base.

"I've felt NASCAR has gotten away from its grass-roots fans," Elliott said. "They have gotten off in other directions for whatever reasons. They need to get back on that. Some of the tracks they have lost in the Southeast have not helped that. We go to California and it's hard to get the fan base we have in the East and Southeast especially.

"We need to get back and try to get that grassroots fan back to the race track, whichever way we can. I totally agree with that."

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