BUDDY COUSINS: RISE AND (MOSTLY) FALL OF NASCAR

The decline of the NASCAR empire didn’t come about due to the tragic death of Dale Earnhart Sr. It 

was self-imposed. When Brian France became the CEO of NASCAR after the passing of Bill France, 

Jr., his vision opposed the tried and proven formula his grandfather and father had used to build the 

empire. The empty seats that now dominate the grandstands confirm it. Brian France wanted to move 

NASCAR away from the beer and chips crowd to the wine and caviar set, which was a disaster. 

Among his biggest blunders was trying to convert the race format to that of the Tour de France. What 

had been an intriguing part of the races -- pit stops* -- were tossed in favor of having the cars parade 

around the circuit for thirty to fifty laps, each race, which is supposed to be part of the show. A race 

promoted as 400 laps now becomes 350 or so. 

 Adding to NASCAR’s woes is the constant chatter about possible conspiracies surrounding the 

outcome of events. Darrell Waltrip suggested as much 

on several broadcasts, which may have been why he wasn’t in the elite first group of inductees into 

the NASCAR Hall of Fame. “Old DW” was the first to question why a caution flag was displayed for 

no apparent reason. He referred to the cause as “Jacques Debris.”

 NASCAR tried to clean up its act by enforcing rules to prevent teams from helping each other 

during a race. Brian France surely 

missed that one because NASCAR openly allows the car manufacturers to dictate to teams using 

their make when to pit on superspeedways. If that’s “legal,” what’s the difference in having two cars 

help each other? NONE! It’s routinely done in Formula One Racing, and since that’s where 

NASCAR hopes to be ... 

 There’s much more to the story of NASCAR’s fall, but racing isn’t viewed 

with as much gusto as football, baseball, or even Corn Hole contests. If it were, the RTD would have 

had a few words about the NHRA (National Hot Rod Association) Nationals from Labor Day in the 

Tuesday edition.

 * They still have pit stops, but NASCAR regulates them.