Owner of Bristol Motor Speedway sounds off

BY BRIAN T. SMITH
MEDIA GENERAL NEWS SERVICE
Published: August 26, 2008

BRISTOL, Tenn. - Leave it to Bruton Smith to call NASCAR out.

And leave it to Smith, a modern-day Rockefeller in the big-money world of NASCAR, to lead the charge on a black-flag issue NASCAR needs to fix. Now.

“In our sport today, we’ve got to make winning more important than we’re making it,” said Smith, owner of eight NASCAR tracks, including Bristol Motor Speedway, in a phone interview. “We’ve got to get away from all this points, points, points. That just irritates me to no end. I’m a race fan. And these people that pay the tab today, these race fans, they want to know, ‘Who won?’ ‘Who won?’ ‘Who’s winning?’”

Right now, NASCAR’s not winning. And its devoted fans are paying the price.

Smith fired up his engine a little more than a week before Saturday evening’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Sharpie 500 at BMS, ripping into NASCAR and its questionable commitment to the lackluster, lifeless postseason quagmire otherwise known as the Chase for the Cup.

Smith referred to the Chase as a dead idea whose time had past.

He’s right.

NASCAR doesn’t need the Chase. And the Chase needs to be put in a six-foot grave.

The Chase is a joke. A sham. A hollow, boring, meaningless fabrication designed by NASCAR to draw attention, peak the interest of sponsors and not get swallowed by the mammoth beast that is the National Football League once the leaves start to fall every year.

The Chase is NASCAR’s answer to the postseason playoff format major sporting leagues like the NFL, Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association have used for decades.

And what a poor substitute it is.

The Chase will never feel and command the world’s attention like the Super Bowl. It will never, ever rival the history and beauty of the World Series. And it’s got nothing on the NBA Finals when it comes to intrigue, storylines and long, drawn-out drama.

Need proof?

Saturday night’s sold-out race at BMS was officially the third remaining race in the 2008 NSCS season before the start of the Chase.

But who knew? The promise of the Chase was non-existent.

There were no visible banners. No signs. And there wasn’t a trace of a tangible race-for-the-Chase fever while fans walked around, cars were set up and drivers waited to ride at Bristol Motor Speedway.

It’s the same thrill-is-gone effect Smith has noticed.

And, unlike NASCAR, Smith has an idea on how to fix the mess.

Smith wants NASCAR to get back to the old, meaningful days, when races were run to be won.

And Smith is screaming jackpot.

“Let’s put a million dollars [on first place],” Smith said. “And then drop it - I don’t care if it drops to [$250,000] for second place. ... Put the emphasis on winning. And you will see this racing go beyond what we ever had before.

“Get rid of all this points, points. And take half of this points money we’re wasting now, and put it on the purse. Let’s do it. And do it now and let’s move on.”

It’s a simple, pure idea.

And it would work.

It would return NASCAR back to its roots. Back to the days when drivers had to finish first - or else. Back to the not-so-long-ago time when first place was all that mattered; not collecting just enough points to please the sponsors and soak up a little TV time.

It’s high time the mad men of NASCAR who dreamed up the Chase went back to the drawing board.

And it’s high time that driving hard and driving to win meant something again in NASCAR.

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