For those who like a little racing mixed in with their commercials

Last week, RacingOne columnist Shawn Akers observed something both intriguing and disturbing about the selection of new drivers for the Nextel Cup series. Is NASCAR truly "going Hollywood," making driving skill a secondary criterion to eye-candy factor?

Granted, I speak as the NASCAR newbie (only having started watching in earnest last year) but since racing runs in my blood (as I look at the portrait of my late mother in her youth, proudly sporting that helmet with the "76" on it), I think I'm qualified to have an opinion. I have an opinion anyway, regardless. I have a blog. Duh.

This is largely in response to the advertising assault on NBC during the Busch race at Martinsville yesterday which I barely survived. Nothing is worse than sitting in 110+ degree heat (I'm exaggerating, we kept it to around 90 in the apartment) and having to watch yet another ditzy driver wreck her SUV while mooning over Kasey Kahne.

What's even worse is how badly these commercials get in the way of watching the race. Martinsville, with its tight paper-clip shape, is notorious for doing lots of small damage to several cars and fraying the nerves of drivers who must concentrate on short straightaways followed by switchbacks in traffic. It's part of the charm of the short courses on the circuit - along with Bristol and Darlington - that, however much it challenges the drivers, is a thrill to watch.

Except when either NBC or FOX is covering the race. And NBC is worse because their commentary is duller. This is the programming scenario that plays out at a place like Martinsville: during a green-flag stretch, the network goes to commercial. Some eight or 10 ads march by, and when coverage returns, hey, what do you know? A caution is out. This gives us just enough time to replay the incident that raised the yellow flag, and, well, since the field is frozen anyway, why not go to another commercial break?

And if we in the audience are really good, we just might get to see the green-flag restart.

This is no digression; this has everything to do with Shawn's commentary. After all, it's the drivers themselves appearing in most of these commercials. Which begs the question: Is driver mediagenics ultimately good for NASCAR? However heavily dependent on sponsors the sport is, what does it mean when I see more of the drivers hawking their sponsors' wares on TV ads than I see of them running on the racetrack? Ostensibly, this is why I would tune into the race, hm?

On the other hand, don't we love it when we see our drivers in the commercials? Case in point: at the Beer Hunter in Rancho Cucamunga in February, I celebrated my birthday with the Daytona 500 amidst a crowd being introduced to the new season of NASCAR-inspired ads. Forget the Super Bowl - these ads are way better. From the little kid going airborne when Dale Jarrett drives by in a UPS truck, to the series of home improvements Tony Stewart convinces Zippy contributed to his Nextel Cup win the prior year, the ads are clever, funny, and effective. And the crowd loved them.

But what results is this wicked catch-22 where providing exposure to the drivers through TV commercials comes at the expense of showing them actually doing what they're good at - racing.

Makes you wonder what the suits at the networks think that people tune into NASCAR for, doesn't it? Or do they care, as long as they get their ad revenues?

Of course, you could fork out a few extra bucks and get the premium access through NEXTEL/AO-hell, travel to a few races live, but this, not surprisingly, creates a multi-class system of NASCAR haves and have-nots. This in what is a traditionally "working-class" sport. Wet your finger, raise it to the air, and feel for that gust of irony.

This is just something to consider while, in one breath, bitching about another onslaught of commericals, and in the next, laughing out loud at the Jeremy Mayfield piñata.

Welcome!

I take enormous chances in establishing a blogging persona that strongly resembles my "real" self, I know, but the potential confusion between persona and person has its benefits:

1) It will force me to think about what I'm posting before I hit that "publish" button.
2) It will force me to think about what I'm posting before I hit that "publish" button.

Can you see where this is going?

Frankly, I have had enough of half-baked and half-cocked rants. I've had enough of tiresome emo bellyaching and flame trolling. It seems time to make a safe haven for the best I have to offer a blogging audience, however small, and it seems that the best way to do it is by hiding in plain view.

I have no idea how this will ultimately be organized, if at all. But you're welcome to join me for the ride. I promise you that, if nothing else, it will be interesting.