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...