Brian France at APSE convention

Attendance is a little more than 100. A lot of people talking about the future of the industry, and how bleak it is in some places.

Still, it's been interesting. I'm glad I came here.

 

Well, sure, NHRA has *great* access ... because it is a fringe sport. I bet the hacks that follow the PBA have Pete Weber Jr. on speed-dial, too. I think I have a list of the World's Strongest Man home addresses here somewhere, too ...

Point is, for the MASSIVE sport that it is (and I am not particularly a fanboi), NASCAR gets the writers closer to the action and the participants than any other major sport.

rb

 

Maybe that is your take, but NASCAR brags about its access then shows to be anything but these days.

Back in the day, Richard Petty used to take fans around his shop in Level Cross. He was wonderful to fans and the media. At a previous paper, David Pearson could not have been nicer or less pretentious. He returned a call to our racing writer, and didn't think it a big deal at all.

In stark contrast, Kevin Harvick declined to talk with one of our writers at the track after the interview was long scheduled. Worse, IIRC, one his PR sorts was the one to break the news. Yeah ... one example, I know. But highly indicative of the lack of evolvement with NASCAR and the media.

 

The last time I asked, which was May, I got an answer not unlike the pornography one. "We'll know what we won't allow when we see it."

I know you can't post video or do anything live from the property where they're racing. That's all exclusive to their partners. I know there's supposedly no live blogging, but I know several sites do lap by lap stuff.

 

Judging from the news lately, it doesn't look like France persuaded many suits to keep their NASCAR beats staffed. At the last race I attended (not a major, but a popular stop not in Texas), I saw fewer and fewer of the national writers on hand. WaPo, NYT, many others are cutting back.

It's partly expense, and partly because Jenna Fryer and Mike Harris do a pretty good job keeping everyone supplied. France should consider himself fortunate the papers still carve out the space for him each week.

 

Each race, in most markets anyway, is a big deal in that market. Outside the market? Because the sport's focus seems to be on the season champion rather than collecting wins or even on positioning (since the points are basically reset for the Chase), the events seem to blend together. And, unlike tennis and golf, there are no majors in the popular definition outside of Daytona, so coverage doesn't expand for "bigger" races.

 

The only racing I've covered is the Southern Nationals a couple of times and the access was incredible. I spent about an hour talking to double-amputee Reggie Showers in his trailer, during which he took off his racing legs and put on his walking-around legs. A very weird scene.

There were times when I basically had to tell the PR folks to leave me alone for a while so I could write.