NASCAR is More Than Wrecks

This guy hasn't seen much action lately

For the past month there has been a lot of talk about NASCAR races being boring and lacking excitement. People are saying that this boredom stems from long green flag runs and a lack of wrecks during the race.

I know that some people attend races or watch on TV just for the wrecks. That is a fact. But NASCAR is more than just wrecks.

For people that are keeping track of this, the last wreck happened at Martinsville Speedway a month ago after a late race caution caused some drivers (mainly Clint Bowyer) to become antsy during the restart. Bowyer dive-bombed the corner and took out the top two cars of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson.

That was a thrilling finish due to the drama at the end, but would it have not been just as exciting to watch Jimmie and Jeff fight it out for Hendrick Motorsports 200^th win?

After Martinsville came Texas.

People considered Texas to be a bore after we witnessed a lot of green flag pit stops and 234 consecutive laps to end the race. Did the same people not see the great drive by Greg Biffle as he reeled in Jimmie Johnson during the closing laps to win the race?

After Texas came Kansas.

People say that this race lacked excitement. What was not exciting about seeing Denny Hamlin barely edge the fastest car all day, Martin Truex Jr. as the laps wined down?

From Kansas, the circuit went to Richmond International Speedway.

What’s more exciting than short track racing in NASCAR? Obviously anything, because after the race at Richmond, fans and even NASCAR media members were still disappointed at the lack of excitement.

The issue I have is what does it take to please these people: Wrecks? Cautions? Rivalries? All of the above?

Being a motorsports fan, one would think that you watch because you like to see people “race”. Is that not the purpose of the sport?

A few years ago, people would complain about races having too many cautions and they wanted to see the drivers actually race. Today, we want more cautions and we prefer wrecks over racing.

I don’t understand that. Neither does 5 time Sprint Cup champion Jimmie Johnson.

“It seems like crashing to most is more important then racing,” tweeted Johnson days after the race at Kansas.

Don’t get me wrong, wrecks can indeed spice things up a bit and make for good drama, but I’ll take good racing any day of the week.

 After all, I am a motorsports fan. People are here to race and safety should always come first.

If fans and media are turned off by the lack of wrecks and can’t come up with a juicy story to talk about, there is always the demolition derby. You will never be disappointed.

So, I question people that say races are boring and lacking excitement, because if you’ve been watching since after Martinsville, there’s been plenty of great racing action.

If you still have not been thrilled, then pull out NASCAR the game and dust off your Sega.

Better yet, just watch this weekend’s race, it shouldn’t disappoint because it’s Talladega.