William Byron had one of the days fastest cars in the first two stages and led a race-high 193 laps. Danica turned out to be a huge bustas many people who followed the sport closely, including yours truly, predicted she would be. NASCAR Motorsport Sports 369 comments Best Devyyon Chase Elliott 2 yr. ago The entire United States is surrounded by a sea of fans 408 turtlegamer2488 Bowman 2 yr. ago Gen 8 will be a speed boat confirmed 141 sidewinderaw11 Bubba Wallace 2 yr. ago Dodge challenger to Gen 8 confirmed /s 50 likewhatalready Irvan 2 yr. ago So, I think it was the No. Ross Chastain placed second and was followed by Ryan Blaney, William Byron and Denny Hamlin. It was, but even that wasnt the point. He won 37 of his 76 career victories during that time period. The ideal entry-level account for individual users. Kyle Busch (8) stands next to his car before the start of the NASCAR 400 auto race at Dover Motor Speedway Monday, May 1, 2023, in Dover, Del. Im also someone who became a disenchanted former fan myself. No longer will teams win titles by dominating speedways; driver skill will be more of a factor, as it should be. It didnt help that a hugely popular driver underperformed, but that shouldnt have caused this much of a free fall. WSN.com has more information on the backgrounds of these three drivers, who are largely regarded as the finest in NASCAR history if you want to learn more about NASCAR. Atlanta has had some classics, but that was partly by virtue of the venue hosting the championship race, such as Alan Kulwickis unforgettable title win in 1992. What NASCAR's Declining Popularity Can Teach Us About - Entrepreneur But just a great call by James (crew chief James Small) to take two and then was able to get a pretty good restart and get (Dave) Blaney there. It seems to be something he does a lot recently. We support responsible gambling. I guess I told him (Martin Truex Jr.) too many of my secrets last year after we went fishing., Ryan Blaney Finished 3rd: Either two (tires) or were staying out was the call, and we came in and took two. Chase Elliott, like his 1988 champion father Bill, is from Dawsonville, Georgiathe Southeastand he has the lineage factor as the son of a well-liked champion. He raced me hard but clean. The same study showed that NASCAR's fan base is also the most diverse in terms of age, gender and ethnicity. Ryan Truex, Martins younger brother, won Saturdays Xfinity Series race at Dover. 10. Craftsman Truck Series. (Chastain). sportsbooks. We ran third all day. With Iowa and Vermont making up the remainder of the top five. The attendance of Hollywood stars at NASCAR events is frequently linked to the marketing of their current films, including sponsorship deals that provide the colorful livery on vehicles. Surprisingly, there are no active NASCAR tracks in the Mountain State, but that doesnt seem to dampen the locals enthusiasm for the sport. He won the Southern 500 six times and the Brickyard 400 five times. Martin Truex Jr. snapped a 54-race winless streak, scoring the victory Monday at Dover Motor Speedway. While attendance at live races, at circuits, and on TV has decreased substantially over the previous decade, NASCAR remains by far the most popular motorsport spawning merchandise opportunities as well as games (particularly those that can be played online at places such as. It just never all came together.. He won the championship three of those years. Poole later said Chastain probably needs his butt whooped. Poole parked for the day. The recent banning of the Confederate flag, which has traditionally been most popular in southern states, has caused some core followers to split. Chastain leads the season standings after 11 races with 370 points. NASCAR Cup Series Drivers, NASCAR Drivers, Auto Racing Drivers - ESPN Dynasties like Johnsons arent bad for a sportunless the sport doesnt know how to market them. A Former Reporters Thoughts, fly into a catch fence and injure spectators, I really got the point across with this one, that profoundly irritating cartoon gopher, baseball exploded in popularity after the opening of Camden Yards, that didnt suffer a significant ratings drop, Collectors And Sons The CollX Sportscard App, Professional Cornhole Beyond The Parking Lot, Staying Green ex-Patriots Champion Jarvis Green, Terry Kath 1946-1978: The Heart of Chicago. We will work hard and try to get better., Brad Keselowski Finished 8th:We had a good recovery. Tiger Woods was great for golf. Martin Truex Jr. hoists the trophy after winning the NASCAR 400 auto race at Dover Motor Speedway, Monday, May 1, 2023, in Dover, Del. AGE DISTRIBUTION NASCAR fans are just as likely as the U.S. population to be 18-44 (98 index vs. U.S population). Allison won four Southern 500s, three Daytona 500s and three Coca-Cola 600s. NASCAR's popularity is down and the ratings reflect it. The Patriots domination was great for the NFL. The wreck happened in the first stage of the race, a fact both Larson and Poole pointed out after the crash. Photo credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo on VisualHunt.com / CC BY-SA I dont need to tell anyone who was a fan in the 2000s this, but NASCARs broadcasts at the time may have been the worst in the history of sports. Rank. Team members walk down pit road past covered tires after the NASCAR 400 auto race was postponed due to weather at Dover Motor Speedway Sunday, April 30, 2023, in Dover, Del. Show publisher information 43 Allegiant Chevy, you know, we were kind of back and forth on the balance throughout the day just trying to get some stuff better, but we came a long way from where we were in practice. Ross Chastain (1) wins stage 2 during the NASCAR 400 auto race at Dover Motor Speedway Monday, May 1, 2023, in Dover, Del. I mean, just a joke 80-something laps into a race? He sure didnt win at Dover, finishing 34th because of an early wreck. It started as a poll of the drivers and then all NASCAR Cup Series competitors; today, it is voted for by fans across the United States.. Material from the Associated Press is Copyright 2023, Associated Press and may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Who had a bad race: Noah Gragson crashed on the backstretch 29 laps into the race and couldnt reach the minimum speed to stay on track. Sponsored by Hamburger Helper in 2010, it was also sponsored by Wheaties in 2011. Obviously, we were pretty off there from when we unloaded, but we got quite a bit better, quite a bit closer, but we just needed to get the balance. Then you can access your favorite statistics via the star in the header. Long run was pretty good. 7. His amazing racing career spanned five decades and 1,184 races, beginning with his debut in the 1958 Jim Mideon 500 and ending with his final ride in the Hooters 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1992. unsubscribe link. California sitting third from the bottom may raise a few eyebrows considering it hosts two Cup races and a number of drivers hail from the Golden State, including 7x champion Jimmie Johnson. NASCAR Races Into an Uncertain Future - The New York Times He earned his 32nd career Cup victory and became the 10th driver to win four or more Cup races at Dover. Nothing against Jimmie Johnson for winning titles with the rules as written, but he only managed that feat twice. He only ran more than 3/4 of the season five times. No reason. After 26 of 36 races, the top ten drivers would have their points reset, putting them all on a level playing field again for the last ten races. Busch, enjoying a successful first season at Richard Childress Racing, won last week's race at Talladega Superspeedway. It started as a poll of the drivers and then all NASCAR Cup Series competitors; today, it is voted for by fans across the United States. Finished second in the points three times. NASCAR was plenty defiant resisting this idea at their peakbut these days, theyre not in a position to ignore displeased fans. Learn more about how Statista can support your business. We missed one run and kind of got mired back and lost a lap, so we couldnt really come back from it that late in the race. Which meant that other drivers didnt win a lot. When you sign-up through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Seat Belt Maker Simpson Sues NASCAR - timesunion.com Chastain, who has often been criticized for rough driving, was the central character in a Lap 81 crash. Christopher Bell placed sixth and was followed by Tyler Reddick, Brad Keselowski, Chris Buescher and Josh Berry, driving the No. I think this was about the time we hit our stride last year. You need a Statista Account for unlimited access. My car wasnt loose, and I didnt have a warning or anything. He also had a Daytona 500 win and a Southern 500 victory among his 84 career wins. For the first time in over a decade and a half, they seem to be headed in the right direction. Joey Logano made numerous pit stops during the afternoon as he battled tire problems and finally parked with 14 laps to go after he hit the outside wall. Excited about that, proud of our day especially Chris (Buescher) running well. Anyone who was watching then could tell you that wasnt unusual at all. NASCAR Power Rankings of Cup drivers of all time 1. I just feel like its not necessary. As soon as he ran into me, I just kind of got shoved into the corner, like way too deep, and then I was just immediately turned around. Wurth 400 Predictions: Its Time for Toyota Drivers to Flex Their Muscles - But Are They Capable? I was critical of the Chase in plenty of columns, but I felt like I really got the point across with this one about it. By subscribing, you are agreeing to 3 (, Brennan Poole: Ross Chastain probably needs his butt whooped, I feel like I just got ran over, Poole said. He just ran me over. possesses a Vendor Minor sports betting license from the Colorado Limited Gaming Control Commission (account That's just going to be part of it here for a little while I think.". TN), 1-855-2CALLGA (IL), 1-800-270-7117 (MI). He did have three top-10 finishes this season in the No. On Dec. 14, 1947, Bill France Sr. organized a meeting of drivers, officials and promoters at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida, to discuss the future of stock car racing. They shut down the polls and went ahead with it anyway. Nielsen. Chart. It makes a world of difference watching on TV. NASCAR's Most Popular Driver Award - Wikipedia We fired off so well and had a ton of speed. Just didnt have quite enough speed for those top-two guys at the end there. So its kind of pathetic. 1? Jacked us up there, but at the end of the day it was solid. 3, rolled out of the gas and just got ran over. It took time, maybe too much time, but NASCAR is finally addressing the three biggest reasons for the decline of the sport. In NASCARs pre-1990s heyday, when it was still very much a regional sport, manufacturer identity was a big thing. And he had a very large fan base. His 84 wins are tied with Darrell Waltrip for fourth on the all-time list. Ousting Brian France, who created the Chase and presided over the sports decline, was no small part of that. We just had to work our way up from there. Im grateful for this opportunity, grateful to be here. The recent banning of the Confederate flag, which has traditionally been most popular in southern states, has caused some core followers to split. All votes shared by fans on Facebook and/or Twitter count double. Use Ask Statista Research Service, among those who have watched, attended or listened to a NASCAR race, Most valuable sport event brands worldwide 2019, Racing teams of NASCAR ranked by team value 2019, Average TV audience of NASCAR Cup Series 2022, Average U.S. TV audience of NASCAR races 2019. Please create an employee account to be able to mark statistics as favorites. The cars already were mostly spec at that point, and the sport was doing just finebooming even. The race will start at noon on the concrete-mile track. Dover is a 1-mile track, and 11 laps does not take long. This can range from meet-and-greet autograph sessions with drivers prior to major races to packages in which fans can even be driven around the most famous American circuits. I expect that will be a boon to NASCARs future. After two DNFs in the first two Chase events resulting from simple bad luck, just like that his title hopes were gone. Ill submit that this is a reason a few fans I know stopped watching the sport. The NASCAR Hall of Fame, opened in 2010, is in downtown Charlotte, and the only three drivers in the hall's first class of inductees are all North Carolinians: Level Cross's Richard Petty, the "King" of NASCAR, the only driver to win 200 races and the first to win seven top-level championships; Kannapolis's Dale Earnhardt, the "Intimidator," the Among Lee Pettys win was the inaugural Daytona 500 in 1959. So what caused the decline of NASCAR to the point where the sport is desperately trying to remain relevant? Much like Kyle Petty, he ultimately became more known for his good-guy personality and his lineage than for his achievements on the racetrack. Weve showed it. Photo credit: balpeck on Best Running / CC BY-SA NASCAR - New Georgia Encyclopedia The award is presented by the National Motorsports Press Association (NMPA). As Ive said, the sport is finally addressing its venue problem. Watch videos, and stay up-to-date with everything NASCAR. Elliott Sadler has the most with four awards in the Xfinity Series, and Johnny Benson Jr. has the most awards at three in the Gander RV & Outdoors Truck Series. 24 RaptorTough.comChevy was really good today. But for whatever reason, Junior not only didnt measure up to his fathers formidable reputation, he rarely even established himself as a contender. 2. In our history, this hasnt been our best track. But just a great call by James (crew chief James Small) to take two and then was able to get a pretty good restart and get (Dave) Blaney there. Are you interested in testing our business solutions? The win for the former Cup champion gave the Truex family two NASCAR wins in three days. Richard Petty, known as The King in racing circles for his accomplishments, was the first driver to win the NASCAR Cup Championship seven times. It has happened with other sports. But the team could reconsider if another outside accident happened to Elliott, Bowman, William Byron or Kyle Larson. MORE: Brennan Poole says Ross Chastain probably needs his butt whooped. Thought today, man, late caution, whats going to happen here? Making matters worse, within four years, the driver with the second largest fan base finished with the most points in a season twice, only to lose the title to a points reset. I was side-by-side with the No. It is best known for organizing stock-car racing. Voting for Most Popular Driver award opens Tuesday Vendor But plate racing still sucksnot only do plates produce multi-car crashes every event, they pervert the standings because of it. Dale Earnhardt Jr. has the second-most awards (15) and holds the longest streak, winning the award in 2003 and every year until his retirement in 2017.[1][2]. Beside the Rising Tide: Hey, Where Did Everybody Go? - Frontstretch "Dale Jr. wins NASCAR's Most Popular Driver, reveals wedding date", "Dale Earnhardt Jr. wins NASCAR Most Popular Driver award for 15th time", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=NASCAR%27s_Most_Popular_Driver_Award&oldid=1144724865, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles containing potentially dated statements from 2022, All articles containing potentially dated statements, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0. Although crowds and TV audiences have shrunk over the previous decade, NASCARs popularity has remained consistent. Gaming Licensing and Investigations of the Virginia Lottery to operate in the State of Virginia, and a Elliott has raced only four times this season and missed six races with a broken left tibia that he suffered in a March 3 snowboarding accident. It was blatant condescension towards what was arguably the most loyal fanbase in sports. The No. While attendance at live races, at circuits, and on TV has decreased substantially over the previous decade, NASCAR remains by far the most popular motorsport spawning merchandise opportunities as well as games (particularly those that can be played online at places such as ). I think it did for the majority of the race, but just got too loose., Denny Hamlin Finished 5th: Our car was really fast. For any fan that needs racing to be dangerous, there are still four restrictor plate races on the schedule. May 15, 2018. Indeed, several of the most popular and influential individuals in the early history of southern [] To use individual functions (e.g., mark statistics as favourites, set The IndyCar racing season is held over 5 months and consists of 17 total races. There were often timesand Im not exaggerating thiswhen a viewer would see maybe five laps of racing, a two-minute break, and then just two more laps of racing before another break. Since this is a non-ideological blog, I wont get into the things that the NFL, NBA and MLB have recently done to drive away a significant portion of their fanbases. (May 15, 2018). DOVER, Del. Im thankful for all of the guys efforts on our No. "It's been a year since we've been here and obviously a lot can happen in that amount of time," Elliott said. One of the best things about NASCAR is the level of access that average fans have. [Online]. Johnson has competed in 666 races since winning his debut race at the UAW-GM Quality 500 in Charlotte, with 83 wins and 370 top-ten finishes. In the early 2000s, NASCAR was soaring. NASCAR race at Dover postponed by rain - fultonsun.com Photo credit: Darryl W. Moran Photography on Visual Hunt / CC BY-ND (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images) Getty Images Photo credit: royal_broil on Best Running / CC BY-SA In fact, the current car lends itself to some pretty good racing. Jimmie Johnson As time passes, his accomplishments will be further revered. 1? 2007: NASCAR debuts the 'Car of Tomorrow' which is a rather ugly piece of machinery. In case you werent there or dont remember, in 2004 NASCAR welcomed their new series sponsor, Nextel (now Sprint), with a new playoff system called the Chase. The Yankees were always good for baseball. Auto Racing Drivers on ESPN.com. (AP Photo/Matt Kelley, File), FILE -Chase Elliott during driver introductions before the NASCAR Daytona 500 auto race at Daytona International Speedway, Sunday, Feb. 19, 2023, in Daytona Beach, Fla. Chase Elliott will return to the No. I also suggested a solutionthat NASCAR emulate how baseball exploded in popularity after the opening of Camden Yards. Maybe there is a segment of fans who tune in for death-defying calamities, but that has always been a part of the sport and still is. Photo credit: Zach Catanzareti Photo on Best Running / CC BY-SA, Posted in NASCAR, Sports NASCAR made an absurd amount of money with their television contracts in the 2000s, but that ultimately cost them a sizable chunk of the audience when networks were forced to make it worth their while. Has won at least one race for 17 consecutive years, tying him for second with David Pearson on the all-time list. It may be difficult for younger people to imagine it, but the sport was once poised to overtake the NFL in popularity. DOVER, Del . Ross Chastain (1) pits after winning stage 2 during the NASCAR 400 auto race at Dover Motor Speedway Monday, May 1, 2023, in Dover, Del. WSN.com has more information on the backgrounds of these three drivers, who are largely regarded as the finest in NASCAR history if you want to learn more about NASCAR. ET. So no, Johnsons domination wasnt directly a factor in the decline of NASCAR but their failure to market it most definitely was. Everyone did a good job on pit road, kept track position, worked hard on-track, and its a solid one.